2014

What to Tell the Kids?

"Toy stories" of the Velvet Revolution.

In 2014 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. What should we tell the kids about what happened before they were even born? For them, it is the distant past. We don't want the kids to get bored, so let's tell it to them as a story.

Felvidek. Caught in Between

Felvidek: Caught in Between unravels the history which continues to be a soft spot for people whose fates were hit by the events after World War II. Some wounds are hard to heal, some questions remain unanswered but the future brings hope for reconciliation. When memories are not enough, the stories come to live through animation. The film combines oral history documentary, archive footage and animation. The narrative deals with a sensitive theme: the forced resettlement of ethnic Hungarians in postwar Czechoslovakia.

Directed by:

Vladislava Plančíková

DOP:

Dušan Husár

Sound:

Igor Baar

Edited by:

Zuzana Cseplö, Terézia Mikulášová

Dramaturgy:

Peter Kerekeš, Gesa Marten, Tomáš Kaminský

Original Idea:

Vladislava Plančíková

Runnig Time:

75 min

Year of Production:

2014

Olga

The police couldn't break her, the Castle didn't change her: The remarkable story of Václav Havel's reluctant first lady.

Olga Havel was the closest and most trustworthy companion of Václav Havel, a friend who was never a spoilsport – on the contrary, she initiated the fun herself – a generous host, passionate games-player and mushroom-gatherer, a nature-lover, sharp commentator, courageous and diligent dissident; a wise and practical woman, always with her feet on the ground and true to herself. In 1990 she founded the Výbor dobré vůle (Committee of Good Will), still doing its good work today.

The Filmmakers: We had no intention to reveal new facts and surprising truths. We will encounter Olga Havel in the film, listen to snatches of her monologues and be able to think them over when we return from the cinema.

It is an attempt to reconstruct her personality through her attitudes to life, and to present the time in which she lived. The last word in the film goes to Olga Havel herself.

Velvet Divorce

It is the story of the dissolution of one state – Czechoslovakia – at the end of the twentieth century, in the middle of Europe, and in the embrace of democracy. Internationally, the division of Czechoslovakia was called a Velvet Divorce in comparison with what happened in the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. What about now? Are we happy with our Velvet Divorce?

Directed by:

Martin Hanzlíček

DOP:

Braňo Pažitka

Sound:

Jan Richter

Edited by:

Martin Hanzlíček

Script advisor:

Peter Kerekes, Ivan Stehlík

Original Idea:

Fedor Gál

Production Manager:

Jan Krása

Running Time:

78 min

Year of Production:

2014

Fragments of P.K.

Koutecky is priceless!

Pavel Koutecký, one of the most outstanding of all Czech makers of documentaries and director of the film Citizen Havel, is presented through fragments of his films and individual testimonies from his close collaborators about the origin of these films – about how Koutecký approached the themes to which he devoted himself. Fleeting moments inextricably bound to the essence of Pavel Koutecký come together to form one large fragment, Koutecký’s bequest.

The film was made with the financial support of the State fund of the Czech Republic for the support and development of Czech cinematography.

Four Velvet Men Then and Now

News

The film Olga directed by Miroslav Janek will be screened in Budapest June 1 2018 at the COURAGE-Parevo International Documentary Film Festival dedicated to the counterculture, dissent and cultural opposition in the former socialist countries in Eastern Europe. Further screenings will take place in Warsaw, Zagreb, Bucharest, Bratislava and Prague.
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